Children who drink juice have better diet quality: Study

People who think juices are not good for their health kids, take note! Juices are indeed good for children and improve their overall diet quality, claims a study.

The study was published in the 'Journal of the American College of Nutrition.'

"Drinking 100 per cent fruit juice has many positive attributes that improve overall diet quality," stated Dr Murray, paediatric nutritionist president of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Paediatrics.

"When juice is eliminated from a child's diet, it can have unintended negative nutritional consequences, especially for low-income populations."

"Juice has recently been cast in a negative light without scientific evidence to support these claims. This report encourages parents and other consumers to look at a child's total diet before judging foods or beverages "good" or "bad." Foods should be judged not on individual attributes such as fat or sugar but on their contributions to the diet as a whole," said Dr Murray.

National surveys show many Americans have poor quality diets. The report noted that while juices do lack fibre, they retain the majority of the same health promoting nutrients, bioactive and photochemical found in the whole fruit.

Fruit juice drinkers also have better quality diets; less added sugar and saturated fat and greater amounts of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and fibre than non-juice drinkers.

"Over the past three decades, fruit juice consumption has fallen substantially yet the gap has not been filled by the consumption of whole fruit. A combination of whole fruit and juice is the best way for children and adults to meet their daily-recommended fruit servings and improve their overall diet," said Dr Murray.

"Young children are typically the biggest juice drinkers. They are also the only age group in the United States consuming enough servings of fruit."